General comments:

Listen to R.E.M.'s first three albums, and compare Stipe's delivery to latter-day R.E.M.—it doesn't sound like the same guy. Personally I prefer Stipe's singing on those early albums (particularly on my favorite, Fables of the Reconstruction, which was my introduction to the band and always brings back fond memories of 9th grade :). His voice back then was deeper, more nuanced, and not whiny at all. (meth@some.org)

R.E.M. do a few great sad songs. "You Are Everything", which aches with melancholy and is redolent of empty rooms in a summer's night, while the untitled, last song from Green (#11, for want of a better name) a man singing to his family from far away, a song of loss and longing. (adamk@zoom.co.uk)

Seems everyone has a list of some songs that are perfect. I might add R.E.M.'s "South Central Rain." (rlovejoy@comcast.net)

I definitely don't think they've sold out, though I once did when they put Green out. But hey, everybody's allowed to make a mistake every now and then. Personally I think Out of Time and Automatic for the People have been outstanding albums. Nothing like a band that constantly reinvents itself. (pmcohen@voicenet.com)

Comments about live performance:

Woj and I did something really silly last night — we went to see R.E.M. at Madison Square Garden. It was actually sorta fun, and amusing to watch the crowd be completely clueless when they played songs written before 1991. Luscious Jackson opened. Their last song, ELO's "Illegal Woman" with Michael Stipe singing was almost worth the price of admission in itself, I'll give you that. (Jun 25, 1995, meth@smoe.org,)

My favorites are Out of Time and Automatic for the People. These are also really accessible and showcase various aspects of their music (as well as having hit singles most people will already be familiar with), so I think either of these are good places to start. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Release info:

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Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Bill Berry
Michael Stipe
Peter Buck
Mike Mills

Produced by:

Mitch Easter + R.E.M.

Comments:

This was our intro to R.E.M. and something that we loved immediately. Though I've long lost interest in the band, I still love this ep. One of the few pieces of vinyl we've kept over the years and still listen to. (Neile)

Release info:

Availability:

Wide

Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Bill Berry
Michael Stipe
Peter Buck
Mike Mills

Produced by:

Mitch Easter and Don Dixon

Comments:

A classic album, and still one of their very best. In terms of cohesiveness, it may indeed be their best album. While only a couple of songs became hits ("Radio Free Europe", "Talk About the Passion"), there isn't a bad song on the album and they all work really well together. The sound is rooted in the early '80s, and yet it's a timeless album that doesn't sound dated over twenty years later. (JoAnn Whetsell)

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Produced by:

Mitch Easter and Don Dixon

Comments:

Not one of their best albums, but not bad either. I don't listen to this one often, but it's good enough to keep around and pull out from time to time. There aren't a whole lot of memorable songs, but "Rockville" is fun, "7 Chinese Brothers" and "Time After Time (Annelise)" are very good, and "So. Central Rain" is one of their best ever. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Guest artists:

Produced by:

Joe Boyd

Comments:

R.E.M.: Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables of the ... I wish they'd make up their mind. Not a bad CD, but it doesn't compare to their more recent ones in my opinion. (matthewm@smoe.org)

An uneven transition from the jangle pop of their early albums to the rock that carried them through the late '80s and early '90s. There are a few songs I love, but every time I listen to this I feel like I'm hearing most of the songs for the first time, which tells you how memorable I find them. (JoAnn Whetsell)

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Produced by:

Don Gehman

Comments:

A really solid album, despite the fact that it only yielded one hit, the beautiful and classic "Fall On Me." The bright pop-rock sound anticipates albums like Out of Time, but it stands well on its own. (JoAnn Whetsell)

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Guest artists:

Mitch Easter—acoustic guitar

Produced by:

Mitch Easter, R.E.M., Joe Boyd, Don Dixon, Don Gehman

Comments:

A collection of early B-sides and unreleased tracks, including 6 covers and the entire Chronic Town EP. It has a few good songs like "Gardening At Night", but at 20 tracks and 63 minutes, it's too long for me to get into. (JoAnn Whetsell)

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Comments:

I have fond memories of listening to this during road trips to and from college. It's a great collection of their hits which will please the casual fan. Completists will also like it as they chose alternate versions of some songs. (JoAnn Whetsell)

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Produced by:

Scott Litt & R.E.M.

Comments:

Green is probably the least ectoish of R.E.M.'s albums, but it's one of my very favorites. It's full of great pop songs that are simply fun to listen to, and I think there's more depth to the lyrics than a cursory listen lets on. Besides, how can anyone listen to "Shiny Happy People" and *not* feel shiny and happy and warm and fuzzy inside? (JoAnn Whetsell)

Produced by:

Scott Litt & R.E.M.

Comments:

Out of Time was a contender for album of the year, and it would've made it if you had replaced "Shiny Happy People" (which I do enjoy, but it should've been a b-side) with the achingly gorgeous "Fretless." This is one of my desert-island discs. (nadyne@little-blue-world.org)
On the poppier side of things, but a definite classic. It spawned the hits "Losing My Religion" and "Shiny Happy People," but the rest of the songs on the album are as good—and often better—than those. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Produced by:

Scott Litt & R.E.M.

Comments:

Stipe at his vocal best. So, so many great, great songs. Able to take you to great highs and lows. Ends with "Find the River" which has got to rate as one of their best. A Desert Island Disc for me. (dlw@sympatico.ca)

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Comments:

Angelos included Monster on his best of list. I must admit that I've been very disappointed with the latest from R.E.M. Okay, so they were ready for a change. Great! And I'm glad they've kept their integrity rather than trying to release the same album over and over again. I just don't like it much (and I suspect that they were too caught up in "let's do something different" to give some of the songs the treatments they deserved). "What's the Frequency, Kenneth" is pretty cool, as is "Strange Currencies," but those are the high points on an album of lows. (burka@jeffrey.net)

These guys just don't know how to put out a bad album. As promised, they deliver their most rocking album in years. This band wrote the book on how to achieve success without compromise. (pmcohen@voicenet.com)

So it took me until January of 1995 to realize what everyone else had in 1994. This disc kicks. (maeldun@i-2000.com)

Loud and abrasive. I just never got into this one, though I do like the 2 singles "What's the Frequency, Kenneth" and "Strange Currencies" a lot. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Release info:

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Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Bill Berry
Peter Buck
Mike Mills
Michael Stipe

Guest artists:

Scott McCaughey
Nathan December
Patti Smith
Andy Carlson

Produced by:

Scott Litt & R.E.M.

Comments:

I was disappointed with Monster too, although I think I would reserve the priceless gems among dung description for Green. But New Adventures in Hi-Fi is a great CD, possibly my favorite of R.E.M.'s. "E-Bow the Letter" is wonderful. And, songs like "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" and "Leave" sort of point to the direction they ended up going on Up. It's definitely a CD worth checking out. (stuart@sph.emory.edu)

Got this late in '96 too, but for some reason I've been listening to it a lot lately. I'm always surprised at how much I like the later R.E.M. albums a year after they are released (typically a lot more than I like them when I buy them). (neal)

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Comments:

A limited edition compilation album of b-sides, live tracks, and alternative recordings, In The Attic is an example of what a well-done compilation can be. There's just a lot of great material on this disc. Sadly, it's not widely available any more, but fans will want to track down a used copy. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Produced by:

Pat McCarthy and R.E.M.

Comments:

I hated Monster. Hated it. A few priceless gems buried in a pile of dung, which made me hate it even more than I would have if it had just been all-around sucky. And having been burned, I never bothered buying New Adventures in Hi-Fi, even though I was taken with the lead single, "E-Bow, a Letter." Still, something told me to go buy Up when it was released, and I'm very glad I did. They've changed directions yet again, going toward something that is at once modernly electronic and at the same time giving off that late '90s retro chic vibe. It is one of those albums that, when you first hear it, makes you say, "what were they *thinking*?!" but then grows on you as you begin to figure out what that was. (burka@jeffrey.net)

To me, this is still classic R.E.M., just a little bit more electronic in spots. Another great record from a band that rarely makes bad ones. (stuart@sph.emory.edu)

Produced by:

Pat McCarthy and R.E.M.

Comments:

R.E.M. need to do something pretty spectacular to get my interest after Reveal, a dismal and dreary experience, with the band sounding bored, disaffected and distracted. A rather muffled production doesn't help, and even a promising song like "I'll Take the Rain," which strains for "classic" status á la "Everybody Hurts," comes off sounding as if Stipe was wandering out the door as he sings it. (adamk@zoom.co.uk)

New album by an old favorite band that is very comforting, somehow. I think they're kind of like a-ha, slowly perfecting the kinds of songs they like to write and perform. (cinnamon@one.net)

R.E.M. tries going for mellow and laidback with Reveal, but it comes off as kind of lifeless instead. I do really like the song "I'll Take the Rain," but this one doesn't come out of its case often. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Release info:

2004—Warner Bros.—48894-2

Availability:

Wide

Ecto priority:

Recommended

Group members:

Peter Buck
Mike Mills
Michael Stipe

Produced by:

Pat McCarthy and R.E.M.

Comments:

When a band's been around as long as this one, perhaps it's unfair to expect great albums; perhaps good albums are good enough. In that case, Around the Sun fits the bill. It's a solid, comfortable album, nothing spectacular, but nothing embarrassing either. And the band sounds more alive than on their previous effort, Reveal. The first half of the album is stronger. "Leaving New York" and "Electron Blue" are both good songs. "The Outsiders" has a great instrumental section, but unfortunately part of it is covered up by a rap, which is at least not as bad as it could have been. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Guest artists:

Produced by:

Emer Patten

Comments:

A strong collection of live material that should please most fans. I haven't watched the DVD and so can't comment on it, but I will say that disc 1 (full-length album) is better than disc 2 (EP) which has only "What's the Frequency, Kenneth" and "Drive" to recommend it. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Produced by:

Jacknife Lee

Comments:

While saying it's their best for a while is damning it with faint praise (given how poor their recent output has been) it's enjoyable as a "Greatest Bits" release, with recogniseable scraps of greater glories recycled into a bizarre but fairly fun mix tape. I like it, and it's definitely better than the irritating, posturing Accelerate but it's still the sound of the band shark-jumping. (Yet still I think, "Maybe next time....") (adamk@zoom.co.uk)

I liked this quite a bit when it was first released, but it hasn't held up over time. I do think it's better overall than Accelerate, but not all that different from the best songs on that album. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Comments:

I really enjoy this retrospective covering the best songs from R.E.M.'s career. And I like the band's insights about the songs in the liner notes (although the fonts are so similar I find it hard to tell who wrote what). The three new songs are okay, not great ("We All Go Back to Where We Belong" has a '70s Chicago vibe and the word "Hallelujah" in the song "Hallelujah" sounds more like a groan than a word). But overall, a great send-off to a great band. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Further info:

R.E.M. has released the following videos:

Pop Screen (1987)

Tourfilm (1990)

This Film Is On (1991)

Road Movie (1996)

Parallel (1997)

In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1998–2003 (2003)

Perfect Square (2003)

When the Light Is Mine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987 Video Collection (2006)

Live from Austin, Texas (2010)

The following tracks are only available on compilations:

"I Walked with a Zombie" on Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye—A Tribute to Roky Erickson (1990)

"It's a Free World Baby" on the Coneheads soundtrack (1993) and on the Friends soundtrack (1995)

a live version of "World Leader Pretend" on The Best of Mountain Stage, Vol. 6 (1994)

DISCLAIMER: Comments and reviews in the Ectophiles' Guide are excerpted from the ecto mailing list or volunteered by members of the list. They are the opinions of music enthusiasts, not professional music critics.

Entry last updated 2014-05-23 19:11:59.
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